


The Ups and Downs of Wonder

by PluckMyHeartstrings



Category: Gravity Falls
Genre: Alice! Dipper, Cheshire Cat! Mabel, Cross dressing! Dipper, F/F, M/M, Mad Hatter! Bill, March Hare! Gideon, Queen of Hearts! Pacifica, White Rabbit! Wendy, Wonder Falls AU
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2015-11-17
Updated: 2015-11-25
Packaged: 2018-05-02 03:27:35
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 6
Words: 5,243
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5232209
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/PluckMyHeartstrings/pseuds/PluckMyHeartstrings
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>All Dipper wanted was a place where he could be himself. Where nobody picked on him, or beat him up. When he falls down a rabbit hole, he finds just that place, and more. But his new world is in danger, somebody is killing off people one by one, and Dipper doesn't think it's that cannibalistic hat maker. Can Dipper along with the residents of Wonder Falls save their world? Or will they all be destroyed, down the rabbit hole.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Down the Rabbit Hole We Go

**Author's Note:**

> Here it is! One of the very first not oneshots I'm going to write on here, and one of the very first regarding this AU. It was made by 
> 
> http://m-arci-a.tumblr.com/
> 
> My favorite mother of them all. I'll probably send her a link to it once the 3rd or 4th chapter is up, unless you guys want to! Either is fine just tell me if you do tell her!
> 
> Now, without further adue, enjoy!  
> ~ Illumi

"Freak!" "Nerd!" "Queer!" "Cross-dresser!"

Dipper sobbed quietly as he ran, away from the hell he called school, and away from his tormentors he called classmates. They were making fun of him again because he was dressed as Alice for Halloween, dress and all. Was it really that wrong for a guy to wear a dress? Was it? Why didn't they just leave him alone!?

He stumbled blindly, finding himself heading towards his second home, the forest. It was his escape for when he didn't feel like dealing with the torture chamber on wheels or his jail of a house. He knew it all to a certain degree, and that made it easy to not trip over roots and such as he ran.

Stopping beside a tree and sliding down it's bark into a sitting position, he willed his cries to become as soft as possible. He set his head on his knees, sighing bitterly into the soft fabric of his apron. Why'd he even bother to put up with this crap? It was always the same, he went home, got beaten, went to school, got bullied, walked home, got jumped.

He was nudged out of his self pity-party by the feeling of soft fur on his arm. He looks up to see a small white rabbit in an old hat looking at him almost, sadly. It looks to the forest, then back at him, hops a few steps toward the forest, and does the whole process again, leaving Dipper highly confused.

"Do you want me to, follow you?" the rabbit shakes it's head up and down as if it's nodding and hops a few more steps. Dipper shrugs to himself and stands up, brushing off his dress, and starts following the small rabbit.

The rabbit sped up, causing Dipper to have to run after it. “Hey! Wait up!” he called, stumbling slightly. They were getting into a part of the forest that he didn’t know that well. He should’ve known he would fall down.

He fell, down into a deep hole, deeper than it should have been. As he fell, he noticed tea pots, tea cups, spoons, plates, and a pocket watch falling down around him. Before he could question it however, he hit the bottom of the pit and his entire world went black.

 

 

“Hey man, you alright?” a hand gently poked at his forehead and he wearily opened his eyes.

“Whe- where am I?” Dipper groggily sat up and rubbed his head gingerly. Yep, he was going to have a bump there for at least a week. He looked up at the figure who poked him and almost fell backwards again.

Sitting where the rabbit would have been was a teenage girl in the same type of hat, a lumberjack hat I think, that the rabbit was wearing, that had white rabbit ears. She smiled at him, not really picking up on the fact that he was currently really confused.

“Hey there guy!” she sat up from her current position on the floor and stretched, “Ugh, that seemed like a longer fall than usual.”

Dipper just sat, flushed and gaping, at the female. Was this the little white rabbit? How in the hell did she turn human? Where in the world was he now? That last question seemed appropriate enough so he decided to ask.

“Uhhh, hey. If you mind my asking, where are we?” she stared at him for a second then burst out laughing.

“Why, we’re in Wonder Falls of course!” she took a pocket watch out of her jeans pocket, “Speaking of which, I’m late for my shift. Gotta run!” before Dipper could say another word, she took off into the forest.

“Hey! Wait!” Dipper stumbled to his feet, trying to follow the girl.

On and on he ran, the rabbit girl was nowhere to be seen, and the forest surrounding him was full of all sorts of strange sights and sounds. He swore up and down he saw a tiny eagle flittering around his head. He also caught a glimpse of some red hats in different places on each side.

Finally, he came to a path. There was an arrow sign beside the path, pointing left, that read “Nowhere”. There was also an arrow sign pointing the opposite direction, this sign was labeled “Somewhere”.

“ARGH!” Dipper groaned, hands gripping his hair in frustration, “Which way do I go now!?” It was a rhetorical question, as in, he didn’t expect anyone to even be around to answer it. That’s probably why he almost jumped out of his skin when a voice piped up behind him.

“Well, that all depends on your opinion in life buddy!”


	2. Gnomeo and Juliet

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Dipper meets a new face, one oddly similar to his own! Who is this mysterious cat girl, and what background does she have with these gnomes?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Second chapter up on the same day? I'm on a ROLL today!! Though I shoudl probably finish my schoolwork.... Oh well! Enjoy!
> 
> ~ Illumi

“Well, that all depends on your opinion in life buddy!” Dipper spun around, startled by the new voice behind him.

He shouldn’t have been all that surprised at what he saw, a cat girl sat on a tree branch right behind him. Well, he wasn’t all that surprised at her being part cat, no, he had met a rabbit girl not ten minutes earlier. What he was surprised about however, was the fact that she looked like a female version of himself, unnervingly so.

“Who are you?” Dipper asked the strange girl, happily surprised by the fact his voice didn’t falter. She hopped down from her branch and walked over to him, smiling.

“Hi! Most call me the Cheshire Cat, but I feel like I’ve met you before, so you can call me Mabel!” she held out her hand and reluctantly shook it. “Don’t worry! I know why you’re here! You were looking for the White Rabbit, yes?”

Dipper blushed and nodded, “Yes, she said she was late for her shift, whatever that means.”

“Yes, Wendy works at the Mystery Shack, and she is usually late to work. Why the twins haven’t fired her yet, I have no idea!” she patted him on the back, “How’s about this, I’ll walk you to the Mystery Shack!”

“Really? But why? I’ve only just met you!” Dipper said, confused and slightly startled at how nice she was being. All she did was grin widely, it almost looked inhuman, and giggle.

“I have a good feeling about you that’s why! Now come on slow poke!” she started walking and looked back at him, “I never did get your name….” Dipper thought this over for a split second, and relented, what could go wrong?

“Dipper,” he said trotting up to her, “My name is Dipper.” Mabel smiled again and they were on their way to the fabled Mystery Shack.

 

“.... and that’s why you should never judge a Multi-Bear by how scary it looks!” Dipper was almost in tears laughing by the end of Mabel’s story. She had just recounted how she had made a great new friend in a multi-headed bear that lived in a mountain nearby.

Mabel and Dipper we’re getting along perfectly, it was like they were two separate halves of the same whole! They not only looked alike, but they acted similarly as well! They even sneezed at the same time while they were passing a plant!

Dipper had almost completely caught his breath when he felt Mabel stop and tense up beside him. “Mabel?” he asked quietly, his eyes darting around trying to find anything wrong.

She placed her hands on his shoulders and made him face her. “Okay, this may sound really crazy, but there are a bunch of gnomes up ahead. Since you are wearing a dress and you’re new here, they’ll most likely think you’re a girl. I need you to pretend you’re a girl until I get back with some help, okay?”

Dipper gulped, well, at least she wasn’t asking the impossible. He nodded slightly and she smiled thankfully at him. Then she slowly faded away until only her smile was left, and then that was gone as well. Trying to remain as calm as possible, he continued walking.

Dipper began to hear a rustling behind him, and he slowly turned around. What he found was neither a gnome or a Falls resident, but a human boy. Dipper highly doubted this boy was any threat to him, but in the few short hours they had been together he had learned to trust Mabel, and so he went forward with the plan.

“Hey.” the boy grinned at Dipper. He shivered, gnome or not he didn’t like the way that boy was looking at him. Dipper took a deep breath, time to test his acting skills.

“Hi….” Dipper looked away, rubbing his arm awkwardly. The boy smirked and moved closer. Dipper backed away a bit more, and he came even closer. Dipper definitely didn’t like the way this was going.

“I’m Norman, what’s your name toots?” ‘toots’? Dipper inwardly scowled, seriously? Was that all this guy could come up with?

“Dipper…” ‘she’ sighed leaning back on a tree, “But it’s only a nickname.” Norman smiled at her, a predatory smile, and put both hands beside Dipper’s head on the tree. God, Dipper hoped Mabel got back with that help soon.

Dipper looked up frightenedly at Norman with big mocha eyes and, as if on cue, Mabel burst out of the surrounding brush with another figure. The only things Dipper could make out about the stranger was that he was wearing a long gold dress coat and a big black hat with an enormous yellow bow.

“HEY JEFF!” Mabel called, waving anything but happily at the boy who was currently pinning Dipper to the tree, “I see you’ve met the new GUY.” Norman backed up startledly at her saying this and Dipper smiled shyly.

“Oh leave her alone Shooting Star,” the man beside her chuckled, “After all, your friend there is cute enough to pass as a girl.” he looked up and the hat no longer blocked his eyes, which were a bright blue color.  
“H-Hatter! I’m s-s-sorry I didn’t know! I-”

“Shhhhh, of course you didn’t know Jeff, it was only yesterday when he fell!” the man’s eye got a dangerous glint, “I haven’t even marked him yet! He is the last one in my wheel, then it will be complete!” Mabel suddenly appeared behind Dipper, causing him to jump.

“We should go, you won’t like what he’s going to do to those gnomes next. He’s angry, and that means it’s going to get bloody.” Dipper glanced back at the stranger, who was staring at him with much interest, and nodded at Mabel.

They left just after the stranger had lunged at Norman.


	3. A Walk in the Woods

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Dipper doesn't know exactly what to think of his new companion...

The stranger emerged again after about 20 minutes carrying a big brown sack and sporting many bloodstains on his fancy gold dress coat. Dipper swallowed thickly, he already knew what was in the bag.

The stranger brushed off daintily and straightened out his bowtie. He turned to Mabel and wordlessly asked, “Do I look okay?” to which she answered with two thumbs up and a wink. Seeing this confirmation, the man turned to Dipper and held out his hand, “You must be Dipper, I’ve heard much about you from Shooting Star.”

Dipper nodded and shook the man’s gloved hand, leather…. fancy, “Yes, and you are?”

“Why, I’m the Mad Hatter! However, considering we’ll be seeing a bunch of each other you may call me Bill!” Bill took off his hat to reveal a mess of blonde hair and bowed deeply.

Dipper blushed slightly, “Okay…. So what were you talking about back there? The whole ‘marking’ me and stuff kinda has me worried.” Bill put his hat back onto his head and let out a loud laugh.

“Don’t worry about it Pine Tree!” Dipper glanced down at the small blue pine sewn into his apron, “The process is perfectly painless! Some of the residents here, nine as of right now, are linked to me. It’s basically insurance, but better cause I can stop anything from hurting you! You get protection and I get….” he chuckled, looking back at his bag, “A good meal.”

Dipper decided to pretend he didn’t hear that last part, and looked over to Mabel, “So, are we still going over to the Mystery Shack then?” Mabel nodded excitedly.

“Oh yes! But now that you’ve met Bill we’ll need to head over to his place first so that you’re marked properly!” Mabel smiled at him and Dipper sighed, oh well. Might as well get it over with so he isn’t attacked again.

“Lead the way,” he shrugged and Mabel skipped ahead, followed by a striding Bill, and lastly Dipper walking at quite the leisurely pace. Mabel looked back at him, and rolled her eyes, they weren’t going to get there by nightfall at this rate!

She grinned, why doesn’t she leave them alone for awhile? It couldn’t hurt to just see how they react to each other when she isn’t there could it? No it couldn’t! She disappeared, staying invisible but following along in the shrubbery just to make sure.

Bill looked back to the boy who currently looked deep in thought. What a strange kid, he almost gets gang-raped by gnomes and yet he still lets his guard down as he’s walking through the forest. He shook his head, this deal is going to be better for the boy then it will be for him.

“Hey Pine Tree!” Bill stops walking for a second, only for Dipper to slam into him from behind. Dipper is knocked off his feet and Bill just looks down at him with a weird expression.

“Sorry, did you say something? I was just thinking.” Dipper blushed slightly in embarrassment, even more so when Bill lifted him back to his feet with ease.

Bill shook his head, “No no, I just said hello, trying to start a friendly conversation. What was it you were thinking about? You seemed lost in thought.” Bill looked down to the boy with interest, as he was about a head taller than him.

“Well, I was thinking of how strange it seemed that Mabel and I look so much alike. We look the same, sound slightly the same, hell, we’re even shaped the same!” Dipper shook his head, I have a theory, but I don’t want to say it aloud until I’m sure.”

“That’s respectable,” Bill nodded to himself, “I suspect the answer will become clear when you meet her family however.”

“Her family? Who’s her family?”

“Well, she came here when she was just a baby, brought down by her two ‘Grunkles’ as she called them. They’re the only blood family she’s got around here. They run the Mystery Shack, and that’s where you want to go right? I suspect you’ll be meeting them soon.”

Dipper smiled at the tall man beside him, “Thanks, I think I might like it here.” He looked around the forest with no hidden wonder. A wonder that could lead him into serious trouble in the future.

Bill chuckled, shaking his head. Yes, this deal was going to help this boy much more than it will help him. “I think so too Pine Tree. You’re really going to fit in here.”


	4. One of Us, Kid

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> (The first of two parts)
> 
> Dipper was relieved that he was going to get protection from Bill, but what was this initiation they were talking about?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This was a bitch to write, especially with the birthday party and such. Cee's b-day made me put this off til the very last minute. Still, I'm pretty proud of how it turned out, hope you love it like you have the others!
> 
> ~ Illumi

Well, that didn’t work exactly how she hoped it would, but it was a start! Mabel sighed, hopping down from a branch up above. She landed in front of the duo but only Dipper jumped, as Bill was well used to the girl’s antics by now.

“Are we ready?” Bill looked expectantly at the girl. She laughed, putting her hand on her hip in a sassy manner.

“You ask as if I haven’t been doing this my entire life? All systems a-go boss!” she winked and disappeared again, the process was for Bill and Dipper’s eyes only. Bill nodded, Mabel was a good girl, even if she did annoy him sometimes with her plots and schemes.

Dipper looked around and didn’t see anything different, just more trees. “Uh, Bill? Where are we even going? We’ve been walking for at least half an hour, shouldn’t we be at least near your place?” Dipper crossed his arms, fairly certain he wasn’t going to get a straight answer from the tall blonde.

Bill looked down to the boy and winked, ruffling his soft brown hair, “Don’t worry Pine Tree! We’ll be there shortly!” Well, that was a better response than he thought he was going to get. The only thing he could do was trust the man, so he began walking again.

After another half an hour, he couldn’t take it anymore. He had quite the perceptive eye, and he had seen the same three eye shaped bushes with yellow berries at least six times now. Dipper stopped in the middle of the road and once again crossed his arms.

“Are you going to take me to your place yet or are we just going to keep going in circles until I die of dehydration?”

Bill smirked, this kid has a nice eye, it took Mabel at least twelve time around before she realized they were heading nowhere fast. Bill nodded and suddenly a small clearing opened up beside them.

In the clearing was a large table, set with (cracked but mostly still usable) fine china. Dozens of lanterns hung around the table, and fireflies danced lazily around the table. A feast was laid out on the table as well, mostly meat of course. Dipper looked around, dazzled to say the least, at the amazing place.

Dipper, sensing what he was supposed to do, walked over to the table and sat down at one of the end seats. He looked down to his hand and began thinking, as he usually does when he sits down at any place.

Why is he being so nice to me? After seeing all the weird people around this place he’s sure that him wearing a dress isn’t that odd, but still, most people would have found a reason to pick on him by now. And isn’t this supposed to be a test or initiation or something like that?

Dipper looked up as Bill sat at the opposite end of the table and snapped his gloved fingers. In seconds a boy with brown rabbit ears similar to the ones the girl, Wendy, had was beside him. Dipper looked at the boy nervously, as he was staring his way with quite an intensity, as if he was judging Bill’s choice.

“Gideon, this is Dipper, my soon-to-be newest client. Dipper, this is the March Hare, also known as Gideon Gleeful,” Dipper waved to the boy, and he nodded curtly back.

“What do you need Mr. Cipher?” Dipper didn’t notice the small chubby mouse sitting on the boy’s shoulder until it spoke these words. Bill rolled his eyes and flicked the mouse off of Gideon’s shoulder.

“Nothing, I figured you’d want to meet him before we continued the process of initiation.” Ah, so Dipper was right, this was supposed to be an initiation. Gideon nodded again and, with one final glance at Dipper, left the clearing.

Bill shook his head, “Don’t mind him, he’s probably just surprised at how similar you look to Mabel, it’s a well-known fact that he has the hots for her.” A strange feeling of protectiveness flourished in Dipper’s chest. “Well, let’s eat!”

Dipper hesitated, then reluctantly grabbed a fork and knife. He sliced off a piece of the meat and put it in his mouth. Dipper hummed delightedly, it was good. He smiled once he finally chewed and swallowed the savory meat, “This is some good meat!”

“I would hope so considering I cooked it!” Bill laughed loudly and then looked at Dipper (mock) concernedly, “Are you okay? You look tired Pine Tree!”

Dipper was feeling slightly fatigued now that he mentioned it, but he could deal with it, after all, he was the master at staying awake when he was tired. All his sleepless nights studying had proven so quite nicely. “No no, it’s fine. I’m fine…”

Dipper was feeling more and more tired by the minute. It was probably all the excitement from the day’s events catching up to him all at once. It didn’t occur to him until he looked across the table to Bill’s smirking face that it might not be real sleepiness. Bill had drugged him through the meat.

“What did you put in the meat?” Dipper accused lying his head on his arms. He was feeling so, so tired.

“All I did was follow the recipe, I made a perfect Chloroform Gnome Ham!” Bill smiled deviously, his perfect, straight, white teeth now all razor sharp canines.

Not only had he been drugged by the crazy cannibal, he had made him unknowingly EAT the creatures he had almost been molested by. Oh, Dipper was going to have a serious rant, as soon as he woke up from his nap….


	5. One of Us, Kid (Continued...)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> (The last of two parts)
> 
> Dipper was relieved that he was going to get protection from Bill, but what was this initiation they were talking about?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Okay! Very, very, VERY late post today! What is it.... 12:45 maybe when I'm posting this? Woooow! Anyway, I proudly present to you the second part of this sweet chapter! Hope you enjoy dudes!
> 
> ~ Illumi

“Piiiiine Treeee! C’mon wake up little sapling! You need to be specially watered in order for you to be able to grow up big and stroooong~!” Bill said in a sing-song voice, successfully rousing Dipper from him comatose state.

The first thing Dipper noticed, aside from the fact that Bill’s singing voice was horrible, was that he was tied to the chair he was sitting in before he fell asleep. He tried his bonds, damn, no luck. Bill could really tie a knot if he wanted to.

“Ugh,” Dipper groaned as the world spinned back into place around him, “I feel like I just got hit by a bus.” Bill laughed at that, ruffling the hair on Dipper’s throbbing head and turning to finish his work he had started after Dipper had fallen asleep.

“Don’t be silly Pine Tree! Buses don’t exist down here! After all, why would we pollute the environment just to provide a replacement for such a simple action as walking?” Bill shook his head, making a “tsk”ing sound with his mouth, “You people up there have no respect for nature!”

Dipper chuckled silently in his mind, who would’ve known Bill Cipher, the Mad Hatter, was a naturalist? Thinking back to the problem at hand, Dipper tries to stretch enough to look around Bill and at what he was working on.

“Ah ah ah!” Bill said, catching Dipper and turning the chair around so it was impossible to see what he was doing, “That would ruin the surprise! And we wouldn’t want that now would we Pine Tree?” Bill gives a sickeningly sweet wink and pats his head almost affectionately.

Almost five minutes later Bill is back in front of Dipper with a syringe with some black liquid inside it. Dipper eyes the needle suspiciously, what is that inside it? Could it be poison, more Chloroform?

Bill smiles brightly at the boy, “Don’t worry, this isn’t poison! It is just my blood mixed with other elixirs. They won’t harm you per say, just might hurt a bit going into your system and getting settled in there. It’s for the best really, cause this stuff allows me to know exactly where you are and if you’re in any danger! So really, you have no reason to be mad at me! This is the initiation, if you pass, you’re protected from all dangers in Wonder Falls from now on!”

Dipper tried to pull his arm away from Bill but the man had an iron grip. He struggled fruitlessly, until Bill got fed up with his games and just stabbed the needle into Dipper’s arm. He screamed in pain as he felt the searing liquid spread all throughout his body. His body must not’ve been able to take the pain because in seconds he was out like a light.

 

~ Now would usually be where I end the chapter, but since it’s kinda short, I’ll continue on! ~

 

Dipper woke up, yet again, with a pounding headache, but luckily only that. The only remnant of the liquid ever entering his body was the dull ache of where Bill had stabbed him with the needle. Speaking of Bill, the tall blonde was currently standing over Dipper with a wide grin.

“Great news, you passed the test! This means you are now officially one of my chargins! Congratulations on becoming one of my own!” Dipper sat up, rubbing his head, and looked warily around himself.

They were back in the weird forest, but on a completely different path than the one they were originally walking to get to the clearing. Mabel was standing not two feet away and grinning excitedly, as if it were her birthday and she and just gotten a real-life unicorn. Dipper turned back to Bill, still mad and not at all trusting him anymore.

“What’s with the sore face kid? This means you’re going to be under my protection from now on! Aaaaand, since you’re the last person I can take on and I have grown quite fond of you these past few hours I’ve been staring at your sleeping body, I’ve decided I’ll stay with you and only leave if another one of my charges need me!”

All Dipper could do was groan, was he seriously going to have to deal with this guy for the rest of his life? Boy, this day just keeps getting better and better. Not even wanting to summon the strength to reply, he stands up and walks over to Mabel.

“Don’t worry Dip-Dop! Bill’s actually a pretty nice guy! I’m sure once you get over the fact that he almost killed you you’ll see that! Besides, this means now we can start heading over to the Mystery Shack without a fear of getting hurt!”

Dipper smiled slightly at the optimistic girl, he had only known her for a few hours and still he felt she knew him more than he did himself. He shook his head, not completely believing her but still not wanting to displease her, “So, what are we waiting for then? Let’s go the the Mystery Shack.”


	6. Bedtime Stories

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Bill tells Dipper and Mabel an old tale and the trio has a camp out.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Wow guys! 63 Kudos already!! I'm amazed to be frank with you, I never expected people to like my work this much! Also, not to self promote or whatever it's called, here's my tumblr in case any of you want to check me out sometime!
> 
> https://www.tumblr.com/blog/musical-heartstring-demon
> 
> Enjoy the latest chapter! Also, Escape from Reality killed me, I am now a ghost. Would you smooch me???? (all the references!)
> 
> ~ Illumi

Later that evening, under a full night sky, the trio sat around a fireplace. Two figures sat on one side, one on the other. It’s fairly safe to say that Bill didn’t like the new seating arrangement very much.

“C’moooon! Why can’t I sit over there with you guys! After all, I should be protecting you!” Bill whined, sounding even more childish than he had the entire day. Mabel shrugged and shook her head apologetically.

“Sorry Bill, it’s not my call right now! Besides, you couldn’t have thought that he would get over it as easily as I did! He just needs time, then you can sit beside him as much as you want.” Dipper rolled his eyes, looking away from the flickering flames and out at the dark forest surrounding them.

“I always thought the forest looked prettier at night.” He sighed, leaning back to lie on the dirt. Mabel hummed in agreeance and Bill nodded thoughtfully. But then a question came to Bill that he just couldn’t help but asking.

“When have you seen the forest at night? You seem like the type of kid whose parents wouldn’t let them out past eight.” Dipper looked over to the hat maker not amused and sighed. Mabel took this as a sign to bring him up and engulf him in a hug.

“They would’ve, if they even cared.” Bill certainly didn’t like the way he said that, how could his parents not care for him? “My parents hated me, always beating me for being both different from all the other little boys and for not being the daughter they had wanted. I also got bullied regularly at school and on the bus, so I ran into the woods to escape the torture. It became my home, because the one I lived in certainly wasn’t one.”

Bill growled lowly, not liking these people one little bit. Who beats their child for that sort of stuff? Bill shook his head, trying to get the very detailed, very explicit thoughts of what he wanted to do to those people out of his head, since when did he grow so protective over a charge in such a small amount of time? Besides, even if he did do those things, they were still his parents, the boy would never forgive him.

Mabel, sensing the tension and not wanting to make it even thicker as the night wore on, spoke up, “How about we tell stories! Like, we can tell ghost stories or legends or something!”

Dipper noticeably perked up at this, his eyes shining in the light of the fire. “Yeah! That sounds like fun! I’ll go first! Have you guys ever heard of…. the Slenderman?”

The next two hours were spent with Mabel and Dipper telling spooky stories and begging Bill to tell a legend of his own. All Bill did was smirk at the two’s antics, how could they not see how much they were alike? It was honestly adorable. Finally, he relented and agreed to tell a quick legend.

“Okay, okay,” Bill chuckled, putting up in hands as a sign of surrender, “I’ll tell you a story! Sheesh what are you two, five years old? The legend I’m about to tell you, is the Legend of the Whispering Willow.”

“Long ago in Wonder Falls, there used to live a kind girl. She had a gift you see, the gift of knowing other people’s past, present, and future just by looking at them. She used to get paid to do fortune telling for people. One day, she was giving a particularly good reading to a man, and by good I mean gruesome, and he didn’t like what she was telling him. He freaked out, calling her a fraud and such, and he ran her out of town. Lonely and afraid, she swam to the island in the middle of a lake nearby. She died there, not ten days later, and a Willow tree grew in her place. The lake was later named Whispering Lake, for it is said, if you visit the island at midnight, the tree will softly sing to you the ballad of your life.”

“Wooooooah…. is the saying true?” Mabel asked, star-struck by the tale. Bill laughed at how easily he had roped them into the tale and nodded his head at the excited girl.

“Of course it’s true! I tried it out myself!” Bill smiled fondly as she “ooo” and “awe’d”. He looked over to Dipper and smiled even wider when he saw the same look on his face that he had seen on Mabel a few moments prior. It seems he had found the boy’s weakness, the strange.

Dipper was amazed, a tree that told you the ballad of your life? That was amazing! Unlike anything he had ever heard of before, and he had heard of a lot of stuff through books! He had a feeling he was going to see that tree sometime in the near future, and that was a promise!

“Anyway, I’ve told you your bedtime story, now it’s time to catch some Z’s!” Bill stretched and leaned back against a tree. Mabel whined but eventually she too curled up into a ball and was asleep in seconds. Dipper brought his knees to his chest and set his head down on his arms, trying to get comfortable.

When Dipper slowly fell asleep in this position Bill got up and eased the boy back onto the dirt. Covering him with his own dress coat, he patted the boy’s head one last time and put out the fire.

“Goodnight children.”


End file.
